Did you know that you can easily set up notifications for the data that is being shared with you by your loved one?
When it comes to the health and wellness features of the Apple ecosystem, Health data sharing is probably one of the best features that was introduced to the iOS on your iPhone (iOS 15+) and iPad (iPadOS 17+.)
Apple allows users to easily share their health data with family, friends, and caregivers on iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches using iOS and iPad OS 15+ and watchOS 8+.
Simply put, this health tracking feature allows you to keep an eye on the health trends and reports of your loved ones.
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Requirements to set up health notifications for someone other than yourself
Most importantly, your family member, friend, or caregiver must invite you to share their health information. Additionally, everyone must have their own iPhone AND use iOS 15 and above.
This feature must first be set up by the person choosing to share his/her/their health records with you because Apple requires the consent of the person sharing his /her health information for privacy reasons.
After setting up all the health information they wish to share with you, Apple sends them an invitation, which you must accept before you can review any of their health info. 
Yes, it’s complicated, but for a good reason: this is some of the most private data there is! 
For some of your loved ones, you may need to help them set you up as a person they want to share health information with. This must be done on their iPhone, in the Health app’s Sharing tab. 
You cannot set this up for someone else on your iPhone, even if you are part of the same Apple family sharing plan.
Once Health Sharing is up in the iPad’s or iPhone’s Health app and you accept the invitation, loved ones, family, friends, doctors, or caregivers can stay informed about someone’s day-to-day health and act accordingly when needed. 
When there is a new health data record added (blood test results or other records), or there is an important change in observed trends, or your loved one updates their health data, you can easily set up your iOS device to receive a notification so that you can stay on top of the changes.
Set up notifications for the health data of your loved one on your iPhone and iPad
Here is how you can set up a notification for your loved ones’ health data changes:
- Open the Settings App on your iPhone running iOS 15+ or iPad running iOS 17+.
- Scroll down and tap on Health.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on ‘Health Notification Settings‘ at the bottom of the screen.
- Scroll to the bottom and look under ‘Sharing’.
- Here, you see the list of contacts that have opted to share their health data with you.
- If you don’t see your loved one listed, that person needs to first set up sharing with you. You may need to assist that person in setting it up.
- Tap on the name of the contact from under ‘Sharing’.
- Now you can choose to set up notifications for health alerts, new trends or updates to your loved one’s health records
Final thoughts
This feature is helpful if you want to keep track of important health-related events of your loved one. That being said, there are some features that we wish Apple could incorporate in future releases of the Health app.
Many caregivers today, keep a watchful eye on medication adherence for their elderly loved ones.
Unfortunately, the Apple iOS Health app doesn’t provide any direct integrations in this area. Most folks today, depend on a third-party system such as EllieGrid or HeroHealth for medication adherence alerts.
That being said, the health-sharing notifications on iOS and iPadOS are a major step in the right direction. As companies such as Dexcom G7 integrate their products with Apple, it will be easier to get the latest blood glucose reading of your loved one on your iPhone.
